PROVIDENCE The first openings in a decade on the Rhode Island Supreme Court gave members of the House of Representatives a chance on Wednesday to approve two newcomers to the court.
The House approved Gov. Gina Raimondo s nomination of Erin Lynch Prata, a powerful six-term state Senator, on a 58-to-5 vote, despite arguments the appointment violates the state s 1992 revolving-door ban against leaps directly from the State House to the courts.
Until her resignation last week, Lynch Prata chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The lawmakers unanimously approved Raimondo s nomination of the first Black person, Superior Court Judge Melissa Long, to the Supreme Court, a nomination that was hailed by Long s backers as important and historic in the context of civil-rights tensions roiling Rhode Island and the nation.
R.I. House approves $12.75B state budget for fiscal 2021
REP. MARVIN ABNEY, D-Newport, the chairman of the House Finance Committee, discusses the fiscal 2021 state budget, which the House approved Wednesday. / COURTESY CAPITOL TV PROVIDENCE – The R.I. House approved a $12.75 billion budget Wednesday afternoon, one that distributes federal pandemic aid and general fund revenues among existing state programs and services. Designed as a bridge to the new year, it will cover the remaining six months in fiscal 2021, as well as the previous six months. It covers…
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A pregnant woman who waited almost an hour for an ambulance gave birth en route to the hospital when her panicking family decided they had to drive her themselves. SA Ambulance Service chief executive David Place said paramedics met the family just minutes after they drove off from their northern suburbs home and in a roadside delivery 20 minutes later the newborn arrived. We can confirm that a healthy baby was born en route to hospital and 20 minutes after our paramedics arrived in the early hours of Monday morning, Mr Place said. Crews met the parents just 2-3 minutes after the parents began to make their way to hospital independently and were in time to assist with the birth and immediate post-natal care.